The present invention is in the field of Information propagation and gathering applied to network-based services, and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus including software for dividing a main user task into a plurality of subtasks to be performed by user-selected WEB-based services.
The World Wide Web (WWW) as a subset of the well-known Internet network is arguably the largest source for public-access information in the world. For example, anyone with a personal computer, the appropriate software, and a modem can access sites on the Web and obtain information on virtually any subject. As public access and use of the Internet has increased, so too have a variety of WEB-based services catering to many subscribers. Examples of tasks performed by WEB services include airline reservations, hotel reservations, car rental reservations, appointments, memo calendar services and so on. In particular, financial services based on the Internet are becoming widely used due to their ubiquity and ease of access.
Many companies, through innovative applications, have made it progressively easier to use their individual Web services. However, performing a main task that requires the sequential or parallel completion of many sub-tasks is seriously hampered by the fractured nature of the diverse Web services. A user would still be required to visit several WEB services and manually configure such sub-tasks in order to ultimately accomplish the main goal. For example, a generic task needs to be manually decomposed into serviceable subtasks, and each of the subtasks needs to be manually delegated to each of the performing Web services. The results of the subtasks would then have to be manually combined to obtain the resultant task.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus that allows a user to accomplish a main task including completion of sub-tasks performed by diverse WEB services without requiring that the user manually visit each WEB service associated with a sub-task and, in some cases, without a user being required to specifically identify a subtask.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention an Internet portal system for accomplishing a multi-component task involving interaction with one or more Internet Web sites is provided, comprising an Internet-connected server having access to client-related data; an internet-capable client station usable by a client; and software executing on the server for managing individual component tasks in execution of the multi-component task. The software, in response to initiation of a multi-component task specified by the client, defines the component tasks, identifies Internet Web sources for completion of the tasks, manages interaction with the identified Web sites gathering results of the interactions, integrates the gathered results, and communicates final results to the client at the client station.
In the system in some embodiments individual ones of the component tasks involve payment for services rendered in the interaction with the one or more Internet Web sites, and wherein one of the component tasks is transfer of funds from a client account in payment for the service rendered. Also in preferred embodiments the software provides an input interface for the client to define a task. The input interface may enable the client to participate in defining component tasks and in selecting the Web sites for completion of component tasks.
In some embodiments of the invention the multi-component task involves arranging services for a trip, including one or more of airline reservations, lodging reservations, or reservation of a rental vehicle. In a similar system, also in an embodiment of the invention, the component tasks comprise messages to be sent to individual ones of multiple Web servers.
In these embodiments the messages sent may require answers, and the component tasks further comprise gathering the answers and communicating the answers to the client.
In another aspect of the invention a method for accomplishing a multi-component task involving interaction with one or more Internet Web sites is provided, comprising steps of (a) initiation of a multi-component task by a client via an internet-connected client station to an Internet-connected subscription server having access to client-related data; (b) definition of component tasks by software executing on the Internet-connected subscription server; (c) identification of Web servers for completion of the component tasks; (d) managing of execution of the component tasks by the software, including interaction with the Web servers identified; and (e) gathering and integrating results of the component tasks and communicating final results tot he client at the client station.
In the method individual ones of the component tasks may involve payment for services rendered in the interaction with the one or more Internet Web sites, and one of the component tasks is then transfer of funds from a client account in payment for the service rendered. The software in preferred embodiments provides an input interface for the client to define a task, and the input interface may enable the client to participate in defining component tasks and in selecting the Web sites for completion of component tasks. An example of such a system is one in n the multi-component task involves arranging services for a trip, including one or more of airline reservations, lodging reservations, or reservation of a rental vehicle.
In another embodiment a method according to the invention has tasks comprising sending messages to individual ones of multiple Web servers. In this method the messages sent in some embodiments may require answers, and the component tasks then further comprise gathering the answers and communicating the answers to the client.
In another aspect of the invention an Internet messaging system for broadcasting messages to multiple Internet-connected servers is provided, comprising an Internet-connected server having access to client-related data; an internet-capable client station usable by a client; and software executing on the server for managing the Internet messaging system. The software, in response to initiation by the client from the client station, including specifying a message, identifies Web destinations for broadcast, and broadcasts the message to the identified Web destinations.
In some messaging systems in embodiments of the invention the message requests an answer, and the software gathers the answers and communicates the answers to the client.
In yet another aspect a method for message broadcast on the Internet is provided, comprising steps of (a) specifying a message by a client at an Internet-connected client station; (b) communicating the message to an Internet-connected message server enabled by software; (c) initiating the broadcast by the client from the client station; (d) identifying Web destinations for receipt of the broadcast message; and (e) broadcasting the message by the message server to the identified destinations. In some embodiments the message requests an answer, and there are then further steps for gathering answers to the message and communicating the answers to the client.
In embodiments of the invention described in enabling detail below, for the first time clients of an Internet portal service are enabled to initiate multi-component tasks at a single entry point, and systems operating according to the invention manage completion of the tasks and furnish results to the client.